SIMON BOLIVAR
ONE COUNTRY, ONE BROKEN DREAM.
Herbert Maduro
Columbia Southern University

SIMON BOLIVAR
ONE COUNTRY, ONE BROKEN DREAM.
Herbert Maduro
Columbia Southern University

Simon Bolivar has been considered by many historians as the liberator of the Americas, he lead an army that liberated Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia from the Spanish rule. Bolivar dreamed in having these countries unified as one big country called “The Gran Colombia”. These countries would have shared a centralized government and would have had the city of Bogota as its capital.
In this article I want to explore the reasons why he could not achieve this dream of unifying these countries and if he had what economic and social impact this unification would had have in today’s economy.
Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas; Venezuela on the 24th of July 1783 his family was wealthy and had close relationships to Spain. Bolivar was educated in Spain and came back to Venezuela with his young wife who died shortly after her arrival in Venezuela. Bolivar never married again. Bolivar has been underrated as a general and tactician, but is safe to say that he is probably in the top 50 Generals in World History.
Simon Bolivar began his campaign of independence from Spain in 1810 with the independence of Venezuela, and then it followed Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. It is important to note that some of these countries were in fact a part of the “viceroyalty of Nueva Granada”, and that Bolivar just wanted to maintain these territories united. The first indication was right after the battle of Boyacá where the “constitution of Cucuta “ was put into effect (1821) one of the element points was “The Cucuta political arrangement was highly centralized and provided for a government based on popular representation with a bicameral Congress, a president, and a Supreme Court consisting of five magistrates. The constitution also guaranteed freedom for the children of slaves; freedom of the press; the inviolability of homes, persons, and correspondence; the codification of taxes; protectionist policies toward industry and agriculture; and the abolition of the mita system of labor. Bolivar was named president of the Gran Colombia and Santander one of his closest generals was named the vice-president. At the start it was only part of Panama, Venezuela and Colombia, but as Bolivar battled the Spaniards with success other countries were added which were Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Bolivar was a leader of man and armies, but often times the generals that were close to him either supported him or was against him in a passive way. He was seeing as conceded, egomaniac, and probably did not make a first good impression. As Jose De San Martin perception of their meeting in Guayaquil “San Martin's reception by Bolivar in Guayaquil was not auspicious. The port city, belonging to the viceroyalty of Peru, had been hastily seized by the Liberator, who pointedly welcomed San Martin to "Colombian soil." Also in a banquet the following observation was made “The two generals had three conferences, all brief, with no witnesses. Reports and memoranda gave differing versions of the discussions--and even today what occurred is still disputed. Certainly their differences were displayed at a banquet Bolivar hosted for his guest on his final night in Guayaquil. To the Liberator's toast of himself and San Martin as "the two greatest men of South America," the Argentine could only add, "For the speedy termination of the war, the organization of the different republics of the continent, and the health of the Liberator of Colombia." Another well document letter from San Martin to Bolivar indicated “Perhaps San Martin's post conference letter to Bolivar, made public only after the latter's death, is the most revealing. With magnanimous sincerity, San Martin offered to place himself and his soldiers under Bolivar's command if he would send the full Colombian army to drive the Spanish out of Peru. Unfortunately for the patriot cause, Bolivar apparently regarded San Martin as a rival and an antagonist rather than as a comrade-in-arms, an obstacle to be removed before his own fame and glory were compromised by sharing them with another. Bolivar refused the incredibly selfless offer, saying that his "delicacy would not allow him to command San Martin," and that "the Colombian Congress would not permit him to leave Colombia to pursue the war in Peru." San Martin also indicated in an interview that he “San Martin, a keen reader of men, immediately perceived the arrogance and raw ambition that lay behind the mask of courtly civility and empty excuses. Years later, in 1840, while living in voluntary exile in France, the general confided his candid assessment of Bolivar's character to a visitor, Captain Lafond de Lurcy of the French navy:
At first sight his personal appearance prejudiced me against him. He appeared to have much pride, which was in contrast to his habit of never looking in the face of the person he was addressing unless the latter was by far his inferior. . . . I was able to convince myself of his want of frankness in the conferences I had with him in Guayaquil, for he never responded in a positive manner to my propositions, but always in evasive terms. . . . Public opinion charged him with unlimited.
With these assessments Bolivar seems to have problems with presenting himself in a favorable way, he may was a leader of armies and men but maybe failed in the political connections, and the ability of keeping the strong personalities of his generals on his side. Among all of his generals Bolivar was closest to Antonio Jose De Sucre who was dearly loyal to Bolivar as indicated by Sucre’s Biography written by Bolivar himself. Also with Sucre’s assassination Bolivar had lost a strong supporter. So was Bolivar personality / demeanor an asset to the Gran Colombia? Bolivar failed in keeping all the members of the newly established country unified. There were some Generals and politicians that favored decentralization over centralization, he spent a lot of time fighting the internal insubordination of his political cabinet to the point of proclaiming himself dictator of the Gran Colombia, this of course was probably more alienating than helpful, and his early death in 1830 at 47 years old was the end of this dream.
Another element of the failure of the Gran Colombia was the Environmental/ Social Factors. “La Gran Colombia” was a mix of different sub cultures and ideologies, they shared the same language and some cultural ideology probably inspired by Spain, but socially different with each region having their own needs and not feeling that they were heard by the government. Each region had its own leaders and therefore their own ideology of having regionalized states for their own wellbeing.